Friday, 11 February 2011

Equal Day and Equal Night, Ostara's circle brings the Light,
Eostre's celestial satellite singing, of Spring's beginning and new life bringing.

Farewell to the Winter whose dark days were drawing,
As Stars blinked in wonder and the cold winds were falling,
To your secrets of Silence and of Snow gently calling,
Farewell to your slower-time of fireside dreams and sleep Yawing.

We drank the cup of your deepness, as Earth in your Shadow..
We tended goat sheep and cattle, kept flame as fields fallow.

Now, calls the Guardian of all growing things, tender and tall,
Now the veil rises, opening the new magic to all.
And as your sacred Hare paints the egg under the Infinite Tree,
We awaken refreshed to set your spring delight free.

Welcome Now then, to the sun bright and subtle,
As your warmth shimmers lightly, unfolding seeds all a-futtle,
With your Green-blood, our Red-blood, in the dance of your rhythm,
As bird breeze and bee quicken your message and mission.

Welcome to the creatures of the life-tide arising,
Under the blueness of blue-sky, beside the fast fox surprising.
Now to give thanks, for your Life Song deep and high,
We call out loud as a flower, from our hearts to the sky!

Come one and come all to this Mystery Renewed,
For the Lord of the Dance soon among us imbued,
And to you who make fertile the Earth and her Children,
For your Geomancic ways of the Sun Moon and Whirtle,

We give thanks for your blessings, and to our bright kindred three,
Our Rite here at an end, Happy Eostre to Thee !

I am now in the custom of accrediting art and
photographs where shared, however when I wrote this post I had not done
so, apologies. This painting is I think by Ruth Sanderson, altho I cannot find the source any longer.

Welcome Eostre & the Spring Goddess power !!

Eostre, the Saxon goddess of fertility/ Ostara, the German goddess of fertility, the goddess whose festival
falls on the March Equinox (March 20th) because this marks beginning of
Spring in the northern hemisphere. The later celebration of 'Easter'
(the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon that occurs on or soonest
after 21 March ie the Vernal Equinox) gets its name from Eostre.

Eostre/Ostara is the second in the trilogy of fertility festivals.
It
heralds the quickening of the spring season. In the weeks following
Imbolc, the earth slowly begins to emerge from Her winter's sleep. As
the Vernal Equinox approaches, life hastens its reawakening and the
annual process of renewal has begun -- the process of life reaffirming
life in the dance of being. The fertility trilogy will conclude with Beltane on May 1st, with the 30th of April known as Beltane Eve, a very magical night indeed.

Eostre / Ostara, is the Goddess of fertilityHer two symbols were the egg and the march hare, latterly abducted and morphed into the
'Easter' rabbit. In medieval societies in Europe the March hare was viewed as a
major fertility symbol, this is a species of rabbit that is nocturnal
most of the year, but in March when mating season begins, there are hares everywhere all day long. The female of the species is superfecund and can conceive a second litter while still pregnant with a first - thus qualifiying her as a symbol of abundance. Seeing a moon gazing hare
was also thought to bring growth, re-birth, new-beginnings and good
fortune.

Eggs have been considered to have magical properties for thousands of years by cultures all over the globe. The egg (and all seeds) contains 'all potential', full of promise and
new life. It symbolises the rebirth of nature, the fertility of the
Earth and all creation. In many traditions the egg is a symbol for the
whole universe. The 'cosmic' egg contains a balance of male and female,
light and dark, in the egg yolk and egg white. The golden orb of the
yolk represents the Sun God enfolded by the White Goddess, perfect
balance, so it is particularly appropriate to Ostara and the Spring
Equinox when all is in balance for just a moment, although the
underlying energy is one of growth and expansion.

Using Ostara eggs in ritual. You can bless the eggs with spells of fertility and abundance and then, depending on your spell, eat them, bury them in your garden or use them as decorations. Baskets of coloured eggs can be placed to represent the quarters when casting a magick circle.If you are really crafty, you can draw sigils, symbols, or runes on your eggs with a white crayon before you dye them, the wax area will stay white, leaving a beautiful effect on the shell.Be
mindful of what you write on the shells as the energy will fuse with
the egg. For example, if you want to bring romantic love into your life
this spring, use symbols like hearts and words associated with romance.During
your Ostara ritual, invoke your choice of deity or spirit and charge
the egg with your intention. After the power is raised, eat the egg and
let the magic start from within. Save the egg shell to bury in your
garden as an offering to the earth.

Modern pagans celebrate Eostre with various rituals focused on renewal and rebirth. Planting seedlings and cultivating
gardens is one of the most traditional celebrations of the holiday,
though any engagement with nature, whether lying in grass or hiking
through a forest, can be used as an opportunity to meditate on the
change of seasons. Take some time to celebrate the new life that surrounds you in nature, observe the new beginning -
plants, flowers, insects, birds.

Prepare a feast of seasonal foods and fill your altar with fresh
flowers, colourful eggs, images of hares and representations of the
maiden goddess.